Google Metrics on Bible Versions

[HammerStone]

The Evangelical Bible guys posted up a Google Trends link on Bible versions. I did some tweaking to the version's acronym (which I think the average person is more familiar with) and some of the results surprised me.

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=NIV%2C%20KJV%2C%20NKJV%2C%20ESV%2C%20NLT&geo=US&cmpt=q

Surprises

• The KJV surge in recent times. (I would have said the KJV would somewhat slowly decrease. Perhaps more people are still getting online or yearning for the beauty of the KJV language.)
• The NIV's steady drop. (If you look back, the NIV has gone from total domination of the Bible market to being much closer to the ESV. Not hugely surprising, but it's a large drop nonetheless.)
• The ESV's rise. (Again, not huge, yet it has gained.)
• The relative unpopularity of the NLT. (It was on the rise, but plateaued.)
• When I swapped out the HCSB and NRSV, they were the lowest.

Just thought it worth a share. Interesting results.

 

[Dodo_David]

As long as nobody is claiming that a particular version is the one that Christians must use, I don't particularly care what version is currently the most popular. After all, no English version is the standard for comparison.

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

Hammer

Often there are secondary reasons for "Google popularity"

For example , on my computer I have the NIV as a daily reference .... but when I am doing something important I will "Google the verse" and then select the KJV

In other words I add to the KJV Google stats because I do not use the KJV on a regular basis.

Google has (had) a fatal flaw that picked what was most popular and put it at the top of the list .... the problem was the most popular statistics are created by complete idiots who do not know who they are , where they are , what they should do , so they go to Google to guide them. Hope that makes sense.

Real good information and research gets buried way down the list because it is not used as often. Google (to their credit) has been trying to remedy it and are having some success.

I am a helicopter pilot , and years ago I could Google helicopters and come up with two or three news items or developments worldwide .... perfect ..... but a few years later with the popularity of remote control toys there ended up millions of Google search results which were all about junk Chinese toys available on amazon or eBay and the good content was lost

Google has changed a lot of that now (good) ... but then it comes down to them having control of whatever they deem best (not good) ... as a matter of fact the European Union is filing a huge anti-trust monopoly case against Google for that very reason

Sorry for the long ramble but as a christian I have some grave concerns ... too many people in the world are like zombies staring into a smart phone to lead their way .... and along with Facebook and all the other popular media the software continually designs a path for them.

Frightening when you stop and think about it. It has the aroma of the Beast of revelation

 

[Dodo_David]

For example , on my computer I have the NIV as a daily reference .... but when I am doing something important I will "Google the verse" and then select the KJV

Arnie, just out of curiosity, why do you believe that you must cite the KJV when doing something important?

 

[Dan57]

Arnie, just out of curiosity, why do you believe that you must cite the KJV when doing something important?

As cited in another thread;

NIV - The animals going in were male and female of every living thing
KJV - They that went in, went in male and female of all flesh.

Many verses in the NIV were changed, and others completely omitted. So speaking for myself (not Arnie),
I prefer to use the KJV because accuracy is important.

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

Arnie, just out of curiosity, why do you believe that you must cite the KJV when doing something important?

I do not necessarily site the KJV .... it is more like I refer to several translations if I have a verse that I want to be accurate about

The church I attend has about 600 people from young to old and all the teaching and preaching now uses the paraphrased NLT and it is amazing how much easier everything has become.

Let me explain it this way , we are "purists" when it comes to accurate interpretation , but the pastors who used the KJV would always end up spending 10 minutes explaining what it meant in everyday English .... in other words they paraphrased on stage .... so they decided to simply use the NLT and save all the agony of explaining everything.

Even the old diehard KJV folks ended up endorsing it in a few months. A half hour sermon can cover three times more than before and the congregation understands it completely.

Which is the whole purpose anyway.

 

[Dodo_David]

As cited in another thread;

NIV - The animals going in were male and female of every living thing
KJV - They that went in, went in male and female of all flesh.

Many verses in the NIV were changed, and others completely omitted. So speaking for myself (not Arnie),
I prefer to use the KJV because accuracy is important.

Uh, it appears to me that you are begging the question.

The KJV isn't the standard for comparison. The ancient Hebrew texts and the Koiné Greek texts are that standard.

Also, there are places in the KJV in which the verses aren't accurate.

Anyway, my question was specifically for Arnie.

 

[SolaGratia]

I think Arnie has a valid point, that Google searches do not necessarily equate to version popularity. But even if that is true, I still find the KJVs popularity among searches to be surprising.